Thursday, December 25, 2008

Dyanne Thorne Week: Sin in the Suburbs (1964)

A young Dyanne Thorne (credit as Lahna Monroe) is the secondary villain in this tale of suburban depravity from Joe Sarno. She is a little hard to pick out, as she has dark hair and apparently has had a nose job. She plays Yvette Talman, who works with her "brother" Louis (W.B. Parker) to fleece the dirty housewives in their quaint suburban town by starting an Eyes Wide Shut styled sex/swing club (it is highly likely that Kubrick was familiar with this film).

While Thorne is not the star, she is used to set the tone right away. The film opens with a collections agent arriving at her house to demand full payment for some furniture. He is greeted by Yvette in a negligee with some ready excuses. When she inquires as to any other way to settle matters, that furniture is as good as paid for! More after the pictures.

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We need to discuss your bill.

I just don't have the money now. My brother's out of work...

Maybe we can work something out?

Louis is likely not her brother, but I don't think it was made clear, which only adds to the perversity quotient. He comes up with the idea of a sex club when he finds out what a bunch of horn-dogs the locals are. We have already seen how the housewives kiss their husbands goodbye, then let deliveryman-types in for a bit of slap-and-tickle. The heroine, Geraldine Lewis (Audrey Campbell), even makes a play for her daughter's boyfriend. Seems the only way a guy can get laid in this town is to not get on the train in the morning. But all that is about to change.

At the sex club, everyone gets masks. No one knows who is who. Stop paying your club dues though, and the Lewis and Yvette might let your name slip, understand? Eventually, everything goes to hell. The moral strain leads to alcoholism, near divorce, fighting amongst friends, and ultimately the near fruition of a masked threesome between a man, his wife, and his daughter (you gotta make sure you know who your random sex partner will not be!).